introduction to greek and roman history lecture 1 before the polis: homer and the “dark ages”
Post on 21-Dec-2015
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TRANSCRIPT
What does ancient evidence tell us?
1. A copy of Thucydides
2. A funerary stele from Attica
4. An Attic drinking cup (kylix)
3. Account of expenditure for the organisation of festivals
What was Greek? Homer
Homer
•Supposed author of Iliad and Odyssey, set in a semi-mythical “Bronze Age”•If he actually existed as a single individual, flourished between 750-730 B.C.•Wrote in the Ionian dialect
The Greek world at the time of the Trojan WarThe end of the Bronze Age
Chronology
• 1184 B.C. (Eratosthenes)• 1209/8 B.C. (Parian Marble)
• 1250 B.C. (Herodotus)• 1334/3 B.C. (Douris).
Heinrich Schliemann, 1822-1890• 1873-1874:Discovered the site of ancient Troy on the hill of Hissarlik (Turkey).• 1876-1877: Discovered the site of ancient Mycenae.
What we know about the Bronze Age
Mycenae, Lion’s Gate
Mycenae, Agamemnon’s mask
Palace of Cnossos
Palace of Cnossos
Mycenaean society
• Wanax: “divine lord”; political, military, religious leader.• Lawagetas: leader of the army.• Telestai: “landowners”.• Koretes: governor• Prokoretes: vice-governor.
• Damos: the people.
The Greek world after the collapse of the palaces
• Social-political system collapses.
• Population decreases.• Linear B disappears.• New form of burial (cremation
instead of inhumation).• Protogeometric pottery.